Why couldn't I see it?
by HeartforPassionateArt
Summary: this is what I thought would be awsome for the Aftermath aftermayhem episode, I don't own of the characters here, rated T for safety in Future chaps.
1. Chapter 1

_Authors note: This was what I thought would be cool for the Aftermath Aftermayhem special after Noah got eliminated. Plus I thought that after kiss with Alejandro, Geoff and Bridgette would have broken up for good. But still, for those who haven't seen the Aftermath Aftermayhem episode there are a few spoilers. _

_This is a Noah/Bridgette story! Don't like…don't read._

It was time for another Aftermath Episode, and after Geoff's insane attempt on the telethon to raise money by sacrificing her friends while asking Izzy aka Brainzilla hard questions, Bridgette was beginning to question her former boyfriends hosting method…yep…former boyfriend was what Bridgette had labeled him now.

after she got eliminated from the Yukon, her and Geoff haven't been on speaking terms, neither has he forgiven her for kissing Alejandro. But, as the Aftermaths hosts, they have been putting on a happy face for the audiences sake, and everything seemed fine, but it still didn't help her feeling hollow on the inside.

Bridgette sighed deeply as she looked up at her mirror in her dressing room, gently brushing out her long blonde ponytail while looking over the script of today's show. It was going to star the three recent contestants that had been kicked off the world tour season and then force them to play a game for a second chance at the million, sounded simple enough, but she knew that wasn't all that was going to be happening on the show. Now that Gwen and Duncan were now a couple since their make out session on live Television, She wasn't really looking forward to putting her friend on the spot because it, be it for ratings or not, but knowing how some fans are, they will be wanting to know how long has it been going on between them, and if Courtney were to see it, she wasn't going let this been taken lying down.

Despite the awkwardness between her and Geoff, there was however a little bit of good news. Blainley, the rude, blonde co host, was not going to be present for the show this time, she was off traveling the world, visiting place after place where all the contestants have been and wherever her loyal fans were located, as her producers thought it would give her a break from stress of the aftermath show.

That thought alone, gave her a little smile, seeing how there was no pressure, she was thinking it was going to be a pretty easy going show.

As she exited out of her dressing room, she looked around to see what all was happening when she saw the contestants that got voted off, aka, Noah, Gwen and Tyler, were talking amongst themselves. She saw Trent holding onto Tyler's wheelchair as he looked over to Noah and Gwen.

Gwen looked at Noah saying, "So Alejandro voted you off just because you knew exactly who and what he was?"

"I know…shocker isn't it?" Noah said rather flatly.

"I am sorry that happened, but that's what you get for opening your mouth too," Gwen pointed out.

"Yes yes I know, its all game of how to win, and in many cases of, its either get rid of the weakest link or someone that knows to much." Noah crossed his arms.

Trent chuckled, "If that was the case, Tyler should have been voted off a long time ago."

Tyler looked up angrily at Trent and groggily said "Hey!"

Trent patted Tyler's shoulder, "Hey dude, I am just kidding" he reassured Tyler then turned his attention back to Noah, "but still, I have to admit, I was kind of surprised how you were this season, you actually showed a lot of persistence, teamwork and maybe a little optimism . And for once you didn't have a book in your hand."

"with all the constant movement and frequent turbulence, who had time to read? And I figured since I made it to the 3rd season, I could at least try to do something for once," Noah said in a flat stated manner.

"Wow, you actually came far from the lazy, cynical, smart mouth that you were in the first season, I actually had fun watching you participate." Gwen smiled.

"Meh," Noah shrugged, "its not every day you get to see the world."

Tyler groggily gave a thumbs up as if agreeing with his former teammate. Which on Noah's behalf, despite the fact that Tyler was one of the people who voted him off, smiled in return.

"Well, I better get Tyler to get prepped up for the show, see you all later," Trent said then wheeled Tyler away.

As Trent left the other two behind, Bridgette came up asking with a worried look at the now messed up Tyler, "Wow, he had taken a lot of beatings this season, do you think he will be okay?"

"He should be, he keeps on saying what a pro athlete he is, so I am guessing he will still show up on the stage with a smiled on his face, despite the fact he looks like a messed of jock who got scrambled on the football field," Noah stated.

"You think with Lindsey's drop of shame, she would have ended up with a concussion as well." Gwen said

"Oh please, with as much space as the head of hers has, there probably wasn't any loss of any brain cells, if there were any." Noah side with a little smirk as Gwen laughed a little.

Bridgette couldn't help but laugh as well, even though it was not funny to laugh at someone else's pain, it was still funny how she jumped out.

"Okay, well, I am getting some juice before hitting the stage, see ya…" Gwen waved and walked off.

Leaving Noah and Bridgette alone.

After Gwen left, Noah took a moment to look out on stage and the audience while Bridgette looked nervously at him. the last time she interacted with him was in the Yukon, and it wasn't really her proudest or nicest moment. Looking back on the only time they actually had some type of interaction with one another was when he came over and hugged her for Warmth, and she rejected it…how could she be so heartless, denying him the possibility of warmth and think that he was trying to hit on her. She could only imagine what he thinks of her…wait…why would she care what he thought of her?

After a few moments of silence, Bridgette decided to break the ice, "So…Alejandro got you too huh?"

"Yeah, that's what I get for saying what I thought…but then…hehehe, better to say what I thought then to actually use it, right? Pole kisser?," Noah said with a sly smirk.

Bridgette glared at him, "One more crack out of you, and I am going to flatten that giant head of yours."

Noah held up his hands in defense, "Easy easy, okay, look I didn't want to start a fight alright? I am sorry I said anything."

Bridgette calmed down as she looked at his sincere face, "Yeah well, I am sorry for snapping at you."

"Eh, Its okay." Noah shrugged before looking over the buffet table where the peanut gallery was hanging around.

Bridgette didn't really know what else to say to him, she didn't know that much about him, just that sometimes he kept to himself, he opens up when he wants to, mostly from the season, from what she could gather, the only other person he really opened up to often was Owen.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Noah said, " well, not like this is nice talking every few minutes, but I think I am going to go grab a sandwich before heading on stage." with that said, he walked to the buffet table.

Bridgette watched as he walked off and sighed deeply to herself thinking, _"Way to go Bridge." _


	2. Chapter 2

It was a few minutes before they were to start the show, The peanut gallery took their spots in their seats as Bridgette waited off stage to be signaled to come on. She looked behind her and saw Noah and Gwen talking and laughing a little as Trent was pushing Tyler up behind them.

Gwen said something to Noah that made him chuckle a little, Bridgette couldn't help but be a little envious. She still felt guilty for treating him badly, and here Gwen could easily make him laugh. She looked down a little thinking how she would like to see that genuine smile if they were talking. Even when they were talking earlier, she got a sly smirk from him, but that was only because he made a crack joke about her kissing a pole…that thought made he slightly irritated still, but he did apologize for it.

She shook her head a little when she thought about something…_why do I care if he smiles are me or not?…wait…smiles at me? Ugh! _

Her thoughts were soon interrupted when she heard Geoff call out to her, "And so without further ado, I present to you my second hand Co host, Bridgette!"

Bridgette straightened herself up as she walked out on stage waving to the audience, who in returned clapped and cheered her on. "Thank you…Thank you!" Bridgette said into her mike as she took her seat next to Geoff on the Hosting Couch, "We have a great show for you today! We are going to meet some new guests, and show some funny clips of the funny segment of "That's gonna leave a mark!" the crowd cheered, "and later on we have a surprise for five lucky ex contestants."

"That's right Bridgette!" Geoff said with a smiled, "But first we have some great news! Our very own, camera hugging, rude, show off Blainley is gone!"

Bridgette smiled with a little giggle while the crowds cheer became an uproar, "that is right Geoff, our friend Blainley is off traveling, going to every single location that our teams are heading too and meeting her ultimate fans across the globe!"

"That's right Bridge, speaking of which, perhaps we should see where our blonde hair nuisance- I …I mean, friend is right now," Geoff tapped into his micro mike ear piece as he listened to the producers, "Alright, our first clip if coming from…Siberia, Russia. Lets take it to the big screen."

Geoff and Bridgette looked up to look at their wide screen as it came into focus, showing an artic Blizzard taking place in front of the camera, Geoff called up to the screen, "Hey Blainley! Can you hear us?"

"I sure can," Blainley said with a cheerful voice.

"Have you met your super fan yet from Russia?" Bridgette asked.

"how should I know?" Blainley replied.

Geoff looks to Bridgette, "Perhaps the blizzard is making it harder for her to see," he then turns his attention back to the screen, "Come a little closer to the camera Blainley, maybe you are too far for him to see you."

Bridgette and Geoff saw the shadowed figure coming in from the blizzard to look at the Camera, but when the figure came into focus…It wasn't Blainley…it was a girl dressed up as Blainley, the only different was her eyes were a little bigger and she wore a small pair of glasses on her nose.

"Wait a minute, your not Blainley," Geoff said a little shocked.

"That's right Geffy boy," came Blainley as she herself, walked out on stage with a smug look on her face.

Both Geoff and Bridgette were more surprised than shocked, seeing that Blainley was out on stage with them.

"Wait a minute, we thought-" Bridgette started before Blainley cut her off.

"thought that I was out to go around the world to visit all those losers as well as meeting my helplessly pathetic fans?…no, I just found out that if the show runs long, I don't get paid, and that if I try to leave the show, for any other reason, other than getting seriously hurt or killed by a falling stage light…I get sued." Blainley said, taking her seat between Bridgette and Geoff in a cool like manner.

Both Bridgette and Geoff looked up to the stage lights and saw one that was just above Blainley's head, rocking back and forth as if any minute it would fall, making them quickly move from their seat so they wouldn't get hurt as well.

Blainley looked at the two and rolled her eyes, "Thanks, I feel the love. Anyway, There was no way I was going to go out there in artic temperatures…so I thought, what If I had a stunt double that could do this for me, so I hired the next person who could pull it off, gave her my pass port and plane tickets and then made it back here just in time for the show." She smiled proud fully at herself for it.

"How on earth did you get her to do that for you?" Geoff scowled at her.

"Oh I just told her that, I was hiring her to be my assistant and if she could pull this off for me, I would make her full time." Blainley stated still smiling.

Bridgette glared at her, "you had no intention of doing that did you?"

"Hell no!" Blainley said, "But I am sure she is fine, whats the worst that could happen?"

"AHHH!" came a loud scream from the TV screen as everyone looked up to see the stunt double shiver uncontroably in the weather conditions as she frantically looked at the camera, "We already lost one intern!, the bears are tearing him apart…Uh no! there's an avalanche coming! Ahhhhhh!" was the last thing the double said before the camera was covered and swept away from the falling snow, then went black.

Bridgette and Geoff looked scared and worried as the audience gasped, then they turned to Blainley, "What?, she is fine, its just snow…Anyway, enough of this, we have a show to run…"

Geoff rolled his eyes and sighed, "Fine,…" he smiles to the audience, "Lets meet our fellow ex competitors, our first guest, he is a high school president, with an IQ that is off the charts, he is witty, clever and would be one of the people to watch win the million, if he wasn't here, NOAH!"

Bridgette winced a little as she saw Noah walk onto the stage with that clam demeanor smile then took his seat on the vacant couch beside Geoff.

"Our next guest, he is a high strung athlete that flirted with Danger, aka, Courtney and can survive almost any bodily injury, Tyler!" Blainley announced as Tyler came in as Trent wheeled him in his wheelchair.

Lindsey smiled and blew Tyler a kiss, "Hi Tyler!"

Leshawna cheered, "Yes! I knew she would remember his name!" she high fived Harold and then looked smug at Justin, "Pay up fool! 5 bucks!"

Justin reluctantly gave Leshawna five dollars.

Bridgette, "And finially our last ex competitor, she is known as the audience favorite, and has recently earned herself, two new nicknames, Boyfriend Kisser and The New Heather…GWEN!"

Gwen came in waving at the audience who cheered for her as she took a vacant seat next to Noah.

Blainley looks to the three, "alright, lets start this off with a one on one talk, lets start with you Noah."

Noah shrugs, "Kay,"

"We have seen a lot of improvement since your very first appearance since the first season. You have come a long way from the know it all book worm. What has changed you?" Blainley said with a smile.

"Eh, I figured since I went as far as travel with all the rest of the nut jobs to get into season 3, I might as well try to win," Noah flatly stated.

"And how sad that all had to come to an end because of Alejandro," Blainley said, "and all because you called him…a…um…what was it that you called him?"

Noah looked annoyed answering, "I called him a eel dipped in grease and a male version of heather, only a little more social."

Bridgette giggled at that and smiled at Noah, "I second that, very well said."

Noah took this opportunity to look at Bridgette and smile.

Bridgette's eyes grew a little wide to that and thought…_oh my god…he actually smiled…for me? Wait…what? Damn! Why am I happy about it?_

Geoff, not noticing Bridgette being distracted, then asked, "So who do you hope will win the million?"

"Anyone but Alejandro, hell, I would even vote for heather, and she is the last person I ever want to see to have that much money power," Noah stated, "but since she is so into Alejandro, they would probably take the cash, and later on get married."

Gwen shivers, "ooh, I can't even imagine little mini Heathers and Als roaming around, it would be like the village of the damned, only there not aliens…they are demon children."

Both Gwen and Noah chuckled at that.

Blainley was getting a little bored with the one on one talk and thought about, kicking is up a notch. She got a smirk on her face as she then asked Noah, "Okay Noah, since you know Heather and Alejandro like each other, is there anyone that you would love to win?"

Noah scoffed, "not any of the remaining contestants that's for sure."

"Oh really? So your saying that there is no one that you ….like like?"

Noah raised a brow, "like who?"

"Oh I don't know…there are a few people you seemed to take interest in, what about Owen?"

"Uh hello, he is a guy, I like him as if he was a good friend or goofy brother, not…like that."

"Well, during your first and Celebrity manhunt episodes, That's not what our Camera man caught…" Blainley smirked.

Noah's eyes gotten wide, "What?"

Blainley, "Remember first season, I believe your first kiss was with Cody?"

Noah glared dangerously, "I was half delusional from lack of sleep."

"Oh…but what about…this?" Blainley points to the television as she brought of picture of Noah cuddling Cody while they were sleeping after their bus dropped into the canyon.

Noah got a shocked look on his face, and Bridgette noticed it. This wasn't fair, and it certainly wasn't right. The audience was both making awing sounds and laughing at the same time.

"That was an accident, I move a lot in my sleep, take the picture off!" Noah shouted as Gwen tried to calm him down by placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Whoa, easy there bookworm," Gwen said calmly.

Blainley, "Okay so maybe he isn't that kind of guy…but how do you explain this?" she then shows a picture of Noah hugging Bridgette.

Noah immediately froze as did Bridgette.

Geoff could only slightly scoff with annoyance at that picture.

Noah for once was lost for words as his face turned red, "I….I…"

Blainley, "Oh my gosh! You like Bridgette!"

The audience couldn't help but cheer and laugh at the sight of Noah.

Bridgette couldn't take it anymore, Blainley was taking pleasure out of torturing him and she wasn't going to take it sitting down…looking in the back of the couch, she saw the plug and pulled it making the screen and the lights go black.

Bridgette announced in the dark, "Sorry Folks…looks like we are having some technical difficulties…please stand by as we will be right back after theses messages from our sponsors."

The camera cut and went to Commercials.


	3. Chapter 3

"10 minutes to show time people!" Shouted one of the producers.

Everyone on the set was scrambling around for the next set of props to be prepared for the next segment on the show.

Bridgette watched with a slightly guilty face, but tried her best to hide it, when she saw everyone trying very hard to figure out what happened. The directors and executive producers were upset when they heard the show was cut short due to an electric shortage. They found out it a plug got loose and short circuit the set, but as to how it happened, was never really determined.

Bridgette rubbed her arm as she looked around, she knew a few of her friends saw her do it, but they knew if it were them on stage, they would have done the same thing. I mean come on, picking on a guy for publicity and fan service? Sure, Geoff did it during the Total Drama Action season, but they learned that it wasn't making them or the guests, aka victims of ratings, any more popular, it just created more suspicion and rumors. And finding it all over the Internet, wasn't making them feel any better about themselves or the people they interviewed.

Bridgette jumped when she heard, "LOOK LADY! I DIDN'T EXSPECT YOU TO GO INTO MY PERSONAL LIFE AND EXPLOIT IT COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTEXT!" looking to the direction of loud voice.

Near the water cooler by Geoff's change room, she saw Noah glaring dangerously at Blainley who just stood there with her arms crossed.

Blainley waved a hand to him, "Yeah yeah I get this all the time, and I am going to tell you that I told the 100s of other people I have interviewed, Its in my contract I can dig up anything I find and exploit it. That's what ratings are about, and that's how I get paid."

Noah glared at her, "Suck it Blainley! It may say in your contract, but I am sure that in my contract, I have a right to sue you for humiliating me on national television."

"One, you embarrass yourself on national television. Two, if you have read your contract, which I am sure none of you or your so called loser teammates did, I have a right to any footage I find and choose."

"Show me where it saids that!" Noah demanded.

Blainley simply snapped her fingers and a short brown haired girl with glasses showed up backstage, handing her Noah's contract then disappearing. Blainley cleared her throat as she went through the contract, flipping through page after page before coming to a stop and pointed, "Here! Paragraph 78, section 2, any footage giving during screening time, can be used for any news or TV segment if asked. And since you signed the contract, you agreed to it…So there."

Noah grabbed the contract and read the sentence, "any future reference of suing because of it will be ….null in void…" his arms dropped, while he still held onto the contract, with the look of defeat on his face.

"You see Noah, you can't stop me from doing my job," Blainley proudly stated.

Noah looked at her, still with the helpless look, "But why me?"

She shrugged, "Everyone already knows about everyone else that is popular, so I thought it was time to bring someone new, and you happened to fit the bill."

"Five minutes to curtain time!" shouted one of the camera men as they set up for the next session.

"See you on stage Noah," She said with a smirk and walked off.

Noah watched her leave then looked to the contract, he growled angrily then swung his leg to kick something only to kick the metal table leg of the Cooler and screamed in pain. He seethed through his teeth and sat down on an empty, tall, camera casing, rubbing his foot to sooth the pain.

Bridgette looked sadly at him. He looked helpless, hurt, and more importantly, degradedly embarrassed. She took this opportunity to walk up to him cautiously, she wasn't sure what to say this time to make him feel any better, but she thought at least a little bit of encouragement would help bring his spirits up, even if it was a bit.

"I am sorry Noah," she said, then inwardly wanting to kick herself …*oh yeah…the whole, I am so sorry for you…bid…pathetic*

Noah didn't look up to her, for he knew the owner of the voice who spoke, in which he grunted, not answering.

"Look Noah, about what happened in the Yukon, I-"

Noah stopped her in mid sentence saying, " Lets just pretend that never happened okay?"

Bridgette's eyes widened…maybe…even shocked.

Noah looked up at her, "Look, lets just leave it as, I thought you were cold, so I hugged you to keep warm, end of story."

Bridgette didn't know what to say, how could he be so…cold about it.

Noah stood up, limping a little, no doubt his foot was still in pain, "now if you will excuse me, I am going to head out before queen plastic face decides to mess with me again on live TV."

As he was about to leave, Noah stepped on his injured foot then winced to the pain, causing him to loose his balance and fall forward.

Bridgette was still standing there when she saw him fall, she leaned forward and caught him, wrapping her arms around him while he wrapped his arms around her for balance.

Noah froze just then…he didn't notice till it was too late, that when he was caught in Bridgette's arms, his head was laying right on her chest…right up to where he could hear her heart beat. Feeling her arms around him, holding him tight, they were so soft and firm, he could feel his heart beat a little faster as his face turned red.

Bridgette looked down at him worriedly, "are you okay?"

He looked up to her, taking a moment to look into her green eyes, how angelic she looked, even if there were times she was a bit…slow. Her blonde hair, though always in a ponytail, looked so smooth and silky… *_oh, if only for a moment, I could feel those strands between my fingers._* Noah thought to himself.

Noah's eyes widened, *_what the hell am I thinking!_*

"Noah?…Noah?" Bridgette called to him, snapping him out of his trans, "you okay dude?"

Noah quickly stood up, cleaning himself off as his cheeks were still hot, "yeah yeah…I …I am fine…I…..I got to go." he quickly turned and headed to the peanut gallery seats.

Bridgette may not have been the brightest person, at least she wasn't Lindsey stupid, but it didn't take a rocket Scientist to see that he was blushing. He was so cold a moment a ago and now…he was blushing just from her holding him…*_Could it be…that….he really did….have a crush on me_?* she thought.

"Aww, how cute" came a voice behind Bridgette.

Bridgette jumped a little turning to face Gwen who had a smirk on her face. Which in return, made her blush a little.

"Who him? I don't know, I never noticed," Bridgette panic crossing her arms then looked to the side, trying to find something else to focus her attention too.

Gwen giggled, "Relax I am just kidding, no need to get so flustered."

Bridgette looked at her annoyed, "I am not flustered."

"Oh really? Then why are you blushing?"

"Anyway," Bridgette asked quickly changing the subject, "ready to go back out there?" .

Gwen put up her hands, "I am not sure if I want to…I mean after that attack on Noah, I am almost scared to go out there myself…what if she pulls something on me? I know there are going to be tons of fans out there either devastated or thrilled over my recent hook up with Duncan."

Bridgette sighs deeply, "yes I know…the sad part is…she can get away with it."

"And all for fan service, you think with everything she has done, if there anyone that deserves to get exploited…its her."

Just then…Bridgette and Gwen's eyes widened to that last statement, they looked at each other as their lips slowly grew…into an evil smirk.


End file.
